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Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Nice Cream (Dairy-Free)

As the weather gets warmer, one's thoughts tend to drift towards icy cold, creamy dessert treats. While ice cream may be your summertime favourite, there's a healthier way to indulge that will still completely satisfy your cravings.

I've created this healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana "Nice" Cream as a still-delicious, but more nutritionally beneficial (and dairy-free, vegan) version of ice cream. If you haven't heard of "nice" cream before, you're in for a revelation, because this taste sensation get its ice cream-like texture from frozen bananas. Bananas. That is all.

While you could simply use bananas for your creamy frozen treat, that might not be enough to make you forget your addiction to ice cream. That's why I added one of my all-time favourite food combos to this recipe - chocolate and peanut butter. Few other pairings can rival this one.

frozen bananas (slice them prior to freezing them and your work will be much easier)

non-dairy milk (ex. coconut milk beverage)

cacao powder

Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter (100% roasted peanuts)

pure vanilla extract

sea salt

You can see from this ingredient list that the recipe is all-natural, with none of the unhealthy additives and chemicals that you sometimes find in store-bought ice cream. Here are some of the potential benefits to consuming these ingredients:

Bananas:

I feel like we are so used to having bananas in our lives that we sometimes forget that these brightly packaged goodies are full of potential health benefits - they are high in vitamin B6, contain a good amount of vitamin C and offer dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium and manganese.

Cacao:

Cacao powder is a pure form of chocolate - it's raw and less processed than cocoa powder or the typical chocolate bar. It is an excellent source of antioxidants and magnesium.

Peanut Butter:

Besides being delicious eaten right off the spoon, peanut butter offers protein and several key nutrients. In fact, just one tablespoon of Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter contains 4g of protein and 10% of your daily requirement of vitamin E, niacin, folate and magnesium.

I buy a couple different types of peanut butter for our household. My son will only eat Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter. My daughter and I prefer a peanut butter that is made only from peanuts. Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter is made of 100% select roasted peanuts. While that is a requirement for my little girl and I, the added bonus is that this particular peanut butter is easy to stir - when you first open up the jar, you'll notice a slight separation of the oils but not a huge amount. I find that other natural peanut butters separate so much that they're difficult to stir, leaving an inch or so of dry peanut butter in the bottom of the jar. Not this one!

Making this healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Nice Cream is super straightforward. The only strict requirement is that you need a fairly powerful blender to get the frozen bananas blended at the start. If your blender has a tamper to push the bananas towards the blade, even better. (But you can turn the blender off and push down with a spoon too.)

Start by blending the frozen banana slices and the non-dairy milk. (I tend to use coconut milk beverage.) You'll know the bananas are ready when they look creamy and smooth.

Next, simply add Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter, cacao, vanilla and salt and blend again briefly until all ingredients are mixed together. If you're happy with a soft serve or frozen yogurt consistency, your icy treat is ready to go. Just top with the optional chocolate chips and peanuts and enjoy!

For a more solid, ice cream-like consistency, spoon the mixture into a freezer-safe dish and freeze for an hour to an hour and a half. You can certainly keep this nice cream in the freezer for longer, but then you will have to defrost it for 10 minutes or so before you can scoop it.

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My kids were my taste-testers for this recipe and, happily, they really enjoyed it. In fact, they requested it again the next day after they first sampled it. That makes me happy, because I can offer them a frozen dessert treat that they will readily eat without them noticing (and objecting to) the fact that they are taking in beneficial nutrients. Seeing as I have a preteen and a teen, they could easily make this frozen nice cream treat themselves too.

I am always happy to create a recipe that the whole family can make and enjoy together. We are all big fans of the classic chocolate and peanut butter combo in this house, so this simple, creamy and delicious frozen dessert recipe is on target for us.

I'll be making this healthier, vegan alternative to ice cream a lot over the next few months. I'm already thinking about new toppings to switch things up a bit...maybe raspberries, coconut, banana slices or cashews.

Do you have any topping ideas to share?

More Peanut Butter Goodness To Come

While we certainly love to spread peanut butter on toast around here, there is so much more you can do with a jar of Kraft Peanut Butter and a smidge of creativity. Peanut butter is so versatile and can upgrade any of your favourite recipes. I'll have another new recipe starring Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter on the blog soon, with an exciting chance to win a grand prize with Kraft Canada.

Visit www.sticktogether.ca for more delicious, easy recipes you can make with and for friends and family.

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Nice Cream

by Joann MacDonald

Prep Time: 10 minutes

6078168

Ingredients (2 servings)

3 bananas (sliced and frozen)

2 tbsp non-dairy milk

3 tbsp Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter

1 1/2 tsp cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla

dash of sea salt

chocolate chips and peanuts (optional, for topping)

Instructions

Put frozen banana slices into a high-power blender. Add the non-dairy milk. Blend, using the tamper tool to push bananas toward the blade. If your blender isn't equipped with a tamper, stop the blender occasionally to push the ingredients down. Using sliced bananas will make this process much easier.

Once the banana has come together into a creamy mixture, add Kraft All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter, cacao powder, vanilla and salt. Blend until mixed.

Serve immediately if a soft serve/fro yo consistency is desired. Top with peanuts and chocolate chips, For an ice cream-like consistency, spoon the mixture into a freezer-safe dish (such as a loaf pan) and freeze for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. You may keep the mixture frozen for longer, but you may have to defrost it for 10 minutes or so before scooping it.

Hi! I'm Joann, a Toronto, Canada freelance writer and mother of two kids and two beagle-mix rescue pups. Inspiration is all around us, but how often do we miss it as we speed through our days crossing things off our lists? Grab a cup of tea and join me in exploring the art in everyday life, including diy, decor, books and lots of easy-to-make, family-friendly vegan food.